Art garden adopts mirror image

For the past seven years, the Bambo Curtain Studio (竹 工作室) and its adjoining art garden have been serving up large helpings of thought provoking and bizarre artwork by artists from both Taiwan and abroad.

The latest addition to the Bamboo Curtain Studio's ever-changing but continually serene art garden -- where, until recently, a huge wicker rhinoceros stood guard -- is no exception.

Entitled Passage, the off-the-wall installation is the work of Chen Hui-chun (陳慧純), an artist, who, since 1996 has had numerous installations and sculptures displayed at galleries and at art festivals in Japan, France, and Germany as well as in her native Taiwan.

Comprised solely of 11 pieces of highly polished sheets of aluminum, the piece and its simplicity have been causing heads to turn since its emplacement a week ago. According to Chen, the piece is more than solely a work of art to be viewed, however. Passage is also a work that should be enjoyed as well as toyed with and puzzled over.

"Obviously the first impression visitors get when they see the piece is one of bewilderment. `What is this doing here?' is what I hope they first think," explained the artist. "Then after a while they realize that the piece can take on many forms depending on where they position themselves." Although all facing in an easterly direction, the reflections produced by the 11 polished aluminum plates are prone to changes depending on the time of day and the weather. All of which ensures that Passage is a continually changing work of art.

"Its designed in a fashion that leaves visitors to the garden baffled when they first clap eyes on the work in such an odd environment, and in reflective mood, no pun intended, after leaving the peace and quiet of the art studio's garden," stated Chen. "And of course, the overall effect is never the same as it depends on light and weather conditions for what people see."

According to studio manager, Chan Shu-ling (詹淑齡), Chen's work is proving to be one of the most popular pieces to be given pride of place in the garden for a long time. And it's not only art buffs that have been spotted interacting with Chen's work.

"It's not only visitors to the gallery who have been enjoying the work. Anybody who passes by is forced to look as there's not many people who can resist looking at reflections of themselves," said Chan. "The combination of [Passage's] out of place-ness and it's reflective aluminum sheets make it hard to miss and even harder to ignore."